Strange Dreams
by seanbee
Summary: "It was certainly an offer Odd couldn't refuse. But as he began to eat fruity Ulrich's leg, and enjoy its juiciness, the room began to turn dark..." Please Review
1. Chapter 1

"Arg!"

Ulrich sat up in bed, panting. It had happened again - another nightmare. He picked up his mobile from the nightstand and dialed. A familiar voice greeted him at the other end.

"So it happened again, didn't it."

Yumi, recently aroused from a deep sleep, was groggy yet knew exactly what was going on. Ulrich smiled at that. They had been engaged for several months now, and he could not wait until that special day came.

"Hello? Ulrich?"

Ulrich had spaced out. Quickly he responded, "Yes it did. But this time a lot worse. I'm getting worried Yumi."

"It's been on and off for 2 weeks now, darling. You really ought to tell Jeremy."

"Nah, it's nothing. It's probably bad chicken."

"Bad chicken for two weeks? Even Odd couldn't eat that." She laughed.

"Oh, all right," Ulrich replied reluctantly. "I'll go see him in the morning. Good night for now, my love."


	2. Chapter 2

Aelita kept running. "Get away, get away!" she thought. Grasping Mr. Puck, she sprinted at her usual pace away from the wolf's evil yellow eyes. She used to have these dreams, but now she was the one running, but why she did not know...She couldn't let it catch her...She wouldn't let it...She had to get away, quickly…

"Aelita! Aelita!" the wolf yelled. Startled, Aelita snapped out of her dream state, realizing the voice was none other than her loving husband Jeremie.

"Aelita! You were shaking and screaming in your sleep. Is everything okay?" He reached for his glasses off the end table.

"Yes. All good. Back to sleep for me now." She kissed his cheek and faked a quick return to sleep.

Jeremie didn't buy it; she knew he wouldn't. "I know something's wrong. You can't get away that easily. I've known you for 12 years."

Sighing, Aelita rose. She couldn't possibly sneak a lie past the love of her life.

"It...It was…" she stuttered. "It was the wolf dream."

"But you haven't had that dream in 12 years," Jeremy answered, shocked.

There was silence for a moment. Aelita broke it.

"What if XANA's back?"

"I doubt it. It's highly improbable."

"Jeremie-"  
"Aelita-"

"That means my father might be alive too."

"Don't be silly Aelita. There's no possible way."

Realizing what he had said, Jeremy began again.

"I'm sorry Aelita. You know I'd do anything to bring him back. You know I worked super hard when trying to do so the first time. But he sacrificed himself, unless he somehow survived..."

"He was super smart, I wouldn't put it past him," Aelita cut in.

"Aelita, don't you think I want him back too? He is my father-in-law - the man who raised you for 12 years...and saved our lives multiple times, but let's be honest-"

-"it's an unrealistic dream," Aelita cut in once more. A pause.

"Unrealistic doesn't mean impossible. Maybe I could look into it again. Technology has progressed since we last tried."

They kissed, with Aelita leading. Jeremie blushed.

"I love you, big fat cheesehead."

More blushing.

"If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be here right now. Literally."

"I love you too. Don't worry-" He grabbed her hand.

"I'll be right next to you if the wolves come back."

As he watched Aelita doze off once more, Jeremie became concerned. Could it be just a coincidence that she had the dream she did? Should he be worried about XANA? _No, that's silly,_ he thought.

And he certainly didn't think he could do anything about Franz Hopper. He would look into it just to humor her, but in reality it seemed impossible. _Aelita's materialization seemed impossible at first. But this is different!_ , he thought. Either way, he needed a good night's sleep, so he rolled over and shut his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Aelita awoke the next morning to find herself alone in her bed. "So much for Jeremie's promise that he'd be here," she comically thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted by the smell of freshly baked pancakes - an invitation for her to go downstairs.

Aelita rose and looked in the mirror. Her hair was still just as pink as when the Lyoko Warriors had their first run-in with XANA. She was, of course, much older now, and more developed, but she still wore the same pink "A" night shirt from her Kadic days. It was quite big when she originally acquired it, and she held on to it since it was the first piece of clothing ever given to her after her materialization.

"Surprise!" Jeremie greeted her at the door to the kitchen. "How's my beautiful wife this morning?"  
They kissed again, and both blushed this time. Aelita noticed something extra on the table.

"Is that...your old laptop, Jeremie?" she asked.

"Well...yeah! I thought maybe I'd take a look at some of the old programs for Lyoko that we wrote back in the glory days. As odd as it sounds, your dream got me feeling nostalgic."

The nostalgia was interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Ulrich!" shouted Aelita as she opened the door and gave him a big hug.

"Ulrich? What's up? What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Jeremie asked.

"To pull a page out of Jim's book, I'd rather not talk about it, Einstein. But Yumi insisted that I tell you." He moved across the room to the Living Room sofa.

"Tell us what?"

Ulrich stuttered. "I had- I had a dream. A recurring dream - I've had it for the past two weeks. We were on Lyoko fighting William, and- and-"

"Go on," Jeremie urged, becoming more and more suspicious.

"-and he threw Aelita into the digital sea. Kept chanting something about his victory. How Franz Hopper was dead, and soon we would be too."

Dead silence.

"And then what?" Aelita asked, concerned, once again thinking of her father, in addition to her husband.

"And then, he pummelled all of us. We got devirtualized. But we didn't end up back in the scanners...we were floating in the digital sea somewhere. And all I could smell were Odd's feet. But maybe that's due to the 'bad chicken' I keep suggesting to Yumi."

The three of them appeared startled.

"XANA's long gone." Yumi had entered the house with the key the Belpois family had given her, right on cue.

"Yumi!" The other three shouted practically simultaneously.

They all embraced each other, and of course, Ulrich received a peck on the cheek.

"Look, Jeremie, XANA's dead. But Ulrich has been having this dream for so long, that I'm getting concerned. What if it's a long-term side effect of the scanners?" She thought back to that time that XANA, posing as Franz Hopper, had lied to them all. But she had hardly recalled that when she was suddenly interrupted.

"I don't believe it!" Jeremie shouted. Unbeknownst to the other three in the room, he had booted up the laptop and begun to type on it.

"I...I connected remotely to the factory. No sign of XANA, but...the supercomputer...it's been turned on!"


	4. Chapter 4

"It's on?"

"No way, that's impossible-"

"But what does it mean? XANA's still dead."

"It doesn't mean anything, necessarily," Jeremie replied. "But it _could_ be related to the dreams that you and Aelita are experiencing."

"Wait, Aelita's dreaming, too?" Yumi asked, not having arrived in time for that piece of information.

"Yeah, but it's nothing serious." She replied.

"It is an odd coincidence, though." They all nodded.

"Did someone say Odd?" shouted a familiar voice.

As was the usual routine, Odd, who lived downstairs, came crashing through the door to the Belpois apartment.

"Oh, wow, look, it's a Lyoko reunion. Next thing you know, Sissy will come walking in. Odd mimicked Sissy. "Oh, Ulrich, you're so handsome. Oh Ulrich, why'd you pick her over me?"

Ulrich turned red. "Shut your bottomless pit, Odd."

"Wow, is that a good way to greet your best friend?"

"Quit fighting, ladies," Jeremie said. "This could be a problem. It seems that someone has found the supercomputer."

"I told you back then that it was only a matter of time," Yumi said. "It's not in plain sight, but it is publically accessible."

"But even if they did find it, there was nothing to worry about," Aelita chimed in. "At least, that's what we thought at the time. That's why we didn't take a sledgehammer to the computer."

"What do you say we check this out, Lyoko Warrior-style?" asked Ulrich.

The group nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, but right after we eat," said Odd. Some groans.

"Just don't tell William about our mission," joked Yumi. "Though I did like his clueless, literal clone."

"I didn't," replied Ulrich.


	5. Chapter 5

The gang gasped.

Before them stood the factory, the site of all their teenage memories.

And in front of that stood a wrecking ball.

There was a moment of silence, followed by a mad dash of the Lyoko warriors out of the car.

"They're...knocking it down?" asked Ulrich, rhetorically.

He looked around. They were alone.

"Oh no. Oh no."

"If the factory goes, the supercomputer goes with it. Or does it? It _is_ underground, after all," said Odd.

"Yes, but how would we access it once a mall has been built on top of it?" said Ulrich, reading the sign postered on the fence.

"We have to get in there, Jeremie. Jeremie?"  
Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi turned to find Jeremie comforting Aelita, who was bawling her eyes out on his shoulder. Although she had thought about it many times, Aelita was still not ready for the supercomputer to be demolished. She had spent the equivalent of 9 Earth years there, her old home.

Ulrich motioned to Jeremie. "You stay here. We'll check it out."

The three of them broke off from the group, and continued into the factory. The construction must have just begun; the ropes they used to swing on were still there, as was the elevator down to the supercomputer.

"Yah!" Ulrich grabbed the rope and swung. Yumi and Odd followed. They landed and paused for a second to soak in the nostalgia.

"Wow, just like old times, huh?" said Odd.

They piled into the elevator, punched in the access code, and started downward.


	6. Chapter 6

Aelita, I….I'm sorry you have to see this."

"It's okay, Jeremie. I'm just...shocked. It was my home for so long… And don't forget, the place where my father died..."

Jeremie kissed her forehead and grasped her hand, his fingers interleaved with hers. She looked into his eyes. He was her savior, her lover, the man of her dreams, and he was _hers._ He still retained that awkwardness of his youth, not always being the best romantic in the world, but when the time of need came, his love shone through like the sun on a bright summer day.

Her sobbing began to let up.

He looked her in the eyes. "I love you, and I'll be here for you the whole time. You know I need you if XANA - or someone - has been using the supercomputer for evil. Ready to make the-"

Suddenly, she jumped up and kissed him. Much like the old days, he stood motionless and stiff in a state of humorous shock.

"I'm ready."

"-trip?" He finally finished about 30 seconds later, which elicited giggles from Aelita.

"C'mon ya big nerd. I'll race you!"


	7. Chapter 7

"So, what's the report?" asked Jeremie as he and Aelita walked into the computer lab, their hands separating once the elevator door opened.

"Everything looks fine, nothing's been tampered with," Yumi replied. "There's still layers and layers of dust."

Jeremie and Aelita walked to the terminal. Jeremie sat down and began typing, while Aelita rested her head on his left shoulder.

"Alright, all's well. Time for lunch!" exclaimed Odd.

"Is food all you can think about at this point?" asked Ulrich.

"Yep, good buddy, you better believe it! Well, food and good old Kiwi."

Yumi and Ulrich groaned. They paused for a moment to overhear Jeremie's mumbling to Aelita.

"The scanners are inactive...Nothing on Lyoko...Tower scan negative of course…Oh! The cameras!"

They all turned to face their favorite nerdy pair.

"If you pull up the cameras, maybe we can see who was here," said Aelita.

"Good idea!" yelled Yumi.

"That should make our job here easier."

"Good, 'cuz I'm hungry!"

"You're always hungry!"

"Ah! Incredible!" Jeremie yelled. They stared at the screen, now tuned to the moment when the computer was turned on. To their collective amazement, there was no one in view!


	8. Chapter 8

(Yumi & Ulrich)

"Do you mind if I spend the night?"

"Well, seeing as we'll be spending the rest of our lives together, I don't see that being a problem."

Yumi smiled. Had Ulrich been indecisive, her charm would've forced him to say yes. That always worked.

"I'm worried about you, Ulrich. After the supercomputer, and the dreams…"

"I'm worried too. That computer didn't turn itself on and off by accident." He crawled under the covers, while Yumi continued to get ready for bed.

"Something's fishy," she said. "And we need to be on our guard until we know exactly what's going on."

"Do you think…?" Ulrich stopped suddenly.

"-What?"

"...Do you think we should go back to Lyoko?"

That last question shocked Yumi a little, though it shouldn't have, since the thought had crossed her mind as well.

Ulrich continued. "I know it's been a while, but maybe we should make sure our old pal XANA hasn't resurfaced."

"XANA's gone," Yumi said sternly, though she was beginning to question that herself.

"I know you're beginning to doubt that. We should play it by ear a little, but talk it over with the others first."

"Agreed."

(Jeremie & Aelita)

"I can't let you go, Aelita. It's too dangerous!"

"But, Jeremie-"

Aelita, still shocked by that afternoon's events, continued to unsuccessfully plead her case to go to Lyoko. Earlier, they had powered off the supercomputer, thinking it might've been turned on by some strange electrical glitch. Granted, they had their fair share of strange electrical glitches during the reign of XANA, but he was gone now, or so they believed. Aelita was unconvinced. What if it was XANA, or whatever was left of him? He may have disappeared from Lyoko, but there was no reason that he could not have survived somewhere else on the web.

Jeremie interrupted her thought. In a way, he was glad that this overshadowed the wrecking ball they had seen earlier. He wasn't sure if Aelita could hold up mentally.

"We don't know what the situation is there. We don't even know if the scanners are still operational. Not to mention we're not as agile as we were back in the day…"

He sat up in bed and pulled his glasses off, pretending to clean them. She turned to face him. She could always see how much he loved her just by looking into his eyes. Those eyes had spent scores of hours in front of a screen, working nonstop, just to save her, to free her...and now she was free, and married to the only man she'd ever loved…

But now in those eyes she saw tears.

"Jeremie…?"

"I- uh- I-" his voice began to crack.

"I- I'd be too worried about you…"

Aelita didn't doubt this. It meant the world to her that he cared so much about her. Despite that, it made her upset sometimes - not because he cared so much, but because he never seemed to care as much about himself as he cared about her. He was the most unselfish and incredible person she had ever met, but she just wanted him to be happy - to stop worrying - and enjoy himself.

"Jeremie..." she started again, but was quickly interrupted by her husband's sudden hug.

"I'm s-sorry Aelita, it's j-just…" He had to stop himself again.

"Just what, Jeremie?" She began to run his fingers through that beautiful blonde hair of his.

Jeremie broke away suddenly, sat up, and turned to face her.

"Do you remember that time, before your materialization, that you sacrificed yourself to save everyone? I was lucky that I had that hair and could bring you back…But the short time before I realized that was the worst time of my life, because for a split second, you weren't in it. That's why I'm scared about going back to Lyoko, Aelita. We don't know what the situation is. What if you get devirtualized, but don't materialize back here? It has been long, after all. I just-I just-"

A pause to regain composure.

"-I just don't want to lose you. Not again. I could never live with myself."

Aelita, speechless, just sat in awe. Her heart filled with warmth, she made their lips meet, for what must've felt as long as the time it took Ulrich and Yumi to admit their feelings for each other.

(Odd)

Odd sighed as he walked through the door to his apartment. He looked at the clock. 1:12. "Again," he thought.

Another night, and another girl he'd probably never hear from again. He never understood it - he always had a good time, she always loved his lame jokes - so why did he have such bad luck? He pulled the piece of paper out of his pocket. "EMILY - 28406842," it read. He stuck it on his dresser as he began to disrobe for bed.

Naturally, it didn't help mentally that his two best friends were together with his two other best friends. But one of these days, he'd find the one - he just knew it. In some cases, he had even scored dates with old Kadic classmates, but to no avail.

As he crawled into bed, one thing remained on his mind, and it wasn't Emily's bubbly laugh. Something strange had happened at the factory. Food jokes aside, the wrecking ball...the supercomputer...something was amiss. But he was too tired to think about it now. As he closed his eyes, he thought about his friends' strange dreams, hoping it was just a coincidence...


	9. Chapter 9

Odd awoke suddenly after a horrible sleep, as was the usual case.

"Oh, what a terrible sleep," he said out loud as he went to get up on the right side of the bed to use the bathroom. Shocked, he waited for his eyes to adjust to the darkness before he realized that on the right side of his bed there was a wall!

Sitting up suddenly, he realized he was back at Kadic, and he was much younger, probably 14 or so.

"Wow, this is weird," he said to himself.

"Yeah, you're telling me," said an unfamiliar deep voice.

Odd looked for the source of the voice and found it was none other than _Kiwi_!

"Whatchu lookin at?" the voice boomed at him.

"Kiwi? Where am I- How are you - what?"

Kiwi said nothing as he lifted his leg and released what he was holding in onto Ulrich's bed.

Odd braced himself for the yell as Ulrich realized what was happening and jerked up from his slumber. He turned to face Odd, but slowly, he strangely began to change. His legs became fried chicken legs; his arms cucumbers; his chest a watermelon; his head a pineapple.

"Eat up, Odd," Kiwi said.

Well, that was certainly an offer Odd couldn't refuse. But as he began to eat fruity Ulrich's leg, and enjoy its juiciness, the room began to turn dark. Kiwi faded away - and suddenly, Odd found himself plummeting into the darkness….

"Oh man, this is just not my night."

Odd sat up rubbing the back of his head, before suddenly realizing where he was - in the forest sector.

"Hey, Odd! Odd?"

"Ulrich!" Odd yelled back, excited. "You're not made of food anymore!"

"Uh, I never was, Odd. At least I hope not."

"Oh, right. Haha good buddy, I'm just pulling your leg!"

"Odd! Ulrich!" They turned to see Aelita and Yumi running toward them. It was just like old times, except that none of them knew why or how they got there.

"Uh, Jeremie? Are you there?" asked Aelita.

No response.

"Looks like no word from Einstein. Guess we're just going to have to explore on our own!"

Strangely enough, their vehicles suddenly appeared in front of them. Aelita hopped on the overwing, and Odd on his overboard, while Yumi sat behind Ulrich on the overbike. She could do that now, and took full advantage of it.

"Aww, look at the picture perfect couple. Just don't crash Ulrich!" yelled Odd.

"Quiet, Odd!" he shot back.

"Something tells me we should go north," Aelita said. She started, and the rest followed.

=================== (Jeremie)

"Jeremie, wake up. You must listen."  
Jeremie opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a small, tidy living room. It wasn't his, but as he looked around he realized that it seemed familiar, though he couldn't quite place it.

Turning to his right, he saw a man seated in a large armchair across the room. He bore a large gray bushy mustache and beard, and wore round glasses.

"F-Franz H-Hopper? Sir? Is it really…you?"

"Well of course it's not _really_ me. I'm just an image. I've been trapped here forever by XANA."

"Dad," Jeremie thought, letting that idea resonate in his head for a few moments. "But, XANA's gone?" he asked out loud.

"Well, that's what I thought too, Jeremie. But recent mysterious events have me doubting that." He continued after a brief pause. "Just **be careful**."

Hopper turned to walk away, but Jeremie interrupted.

"Wait!"

Hopper stopped.

"Am I- Mr. Hopper, sir. Am I-"

"Please. Call me Franz."

"...Am I...doing a good job? With Aelita? I love her with all of my heart, but sometimes I just feel that I'm not good enough to have her - to be with her. That she deserves someone better...that I'll never be the father she wants me to eventually be."

Hopper turned around, his eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Jeremie. I have watched you and your friends save Aelita's life and put your own lives at risk to protect her. I have watched her grow and live the life she has after **you** saved her, after **I** could do nothing. You allowed her to breathe the same air you do once again, walk the same earth, all while caring so, so much about her..."

A slight pause.

"...And **that** is the greatest gift that a father could ever receive from his son."

On that note, he turned and walked away, fading into the distance.

"I'm always proudly watching," rang out his voice across the world.

The world began to shift. Jeremie, now floating in darkness, smiled.

"Thank you, Franz. I will never let you down."

========= (Odd)

"Energy Field!"

"Nice one, princess! You've still got it!"

The megatank Aelita had fired at broke into a thousand tiny pieces.

"One down, one to go." Yumi front-flipped to avoid getting hit.

"Hey big guy, try this on for size. Laser Arrow!"

"Impact!"

Ulrich's sword had beat Odd's arrow to the punch. Odd sulked.

"That's Ulrich 5, Odd 2. Nice try, good buddy, but looks like I won this one."

"Hurry up Aelita, get to the tower!" Yumi commanded.

Taking in the nostalgia, Aelita walked into the red tower. They still had no idea how they had gotten to Lyoko, let alone why they were there. And still no contact from Jeremie...this worried Aelita. But what choice did they have? She had to deactivate the tower, so she did. She placed her hand on the screen, identifying herself as Aelita.

The next part went horribly wrong. The screen came up for Aelita to enter the code, and she got ready to enter "Lyoko." Suddenly she was unable to control herself...she couldn't type it...instead, she typed -

X. A. N. A.

The sector began to disappear, leaving Aelita and others plummeting…


	10. Chapter 10

"Aelita! Aelita!"

In an all too familiar scene, Aelita opened her eyes to find Jeremie right above her, staring into her eyes, concerned. She gasped, and then simply continued to inhale and exhale. It was only a dream.

"Another nightmare, huh."

Aelita couldn't bring herself to speak; she merely nodded.

"I'll make some tea, and then we can talk about it."

 _Tea is peaceful and calming enough_ , Jeremie thought to himself. Aelita was very frightened, and he wanted to make her feel safe and relaxed.

But before Jeremie could leave the room, his mobile buzzed. Darting across the room to his end table, before Aelita could get there, he looked down to see:

ULRICH STERN, 5:08 - SOS XANA, YUMI TOO

ODD DELLA ROBBIA, 5:08 - WEIRD DREAM THAT ULRICH WAS PINEAPPLE

ODD DELLA ROBBIA, 5:09 - OH, AND SOS XANA I THINK

 _I better get that tea,_ he thought.

As he began to brew, Jeremie wondered about his vision that night. Was he actually talking to Franz Hopper? Could it be that what happened was real, or was it a XANA trick?

 _XANA's dead...what am I thinking?_ , he thought skeptically. He paused and reflected.

 _Or is he not? No, it's not possible. I saw him disappear with my own eyes..._

It must've been something he ate. But with everyone having bad dreams recently, could this really be a coincidence, or was there a connection? So many questions lingering in his mind, so few answers.

===The Next Morning...===

"All of you dreamed the same thing?"

The last question was rhetorical, for Jeremie had just heard all four of the others talk about the same dream - they were on Lyoko, fighting monsters, when all of a sudden they fell into oblivion. Aelita had filled in the detail of why.

"It was awful," Aelita said. "I just couldn't stop myself. Something _made_ me enter Code XANA." She looked over at Odd. "I'd rather have dreamed my friends were made of fried chicken."

"Actually, it was mostly fruit," Odd corrected. "A nice, well-balanced, healthy meal, if you ask me!" He grinned.

Jeremie butted in. "This is serious. We need to go to the factory right away. I need to have a look at the supercomputer."

The four other Lyoko warriors looked at each other.

"And _we_ need to go to Lyoko," Yumi said.

Jeremie reluctantly agreed. He had promised himself that he would protect Aelita at all costs, but he could not stop her from going to Lyoko. He just had to hope that there would be no software malfunctions, and no danger.

They walked outside to the cars. Jeremie and Aelita walked in back behind the other three.

"So, uh...Odd. I was a pineapple?"

"Yep, you better believe it! And your arms were cucumbers, chest was a watermelon...it was a _good_ meal! Too bad it was fake."

"Yeah, too bad, huh darling?" Yumi said, as Ulrich blushed.

"What did you dream about, Jeremie?" Aelita asked him. "You mentioned it was a weird dream having to do with XANA, but obviously it wasn't the same one we had."

Embarrassed by his question to Franz Hopper and his doubt in himself, Jeremie replied, "Nothing serious. I'll tell you later." Before she could protest, he kissed her, grabbed her hand, and ran toward the car.


	11. Chapter 11

"Transfer, Ulrich! Transfer, Odd!

Scanner, Odd! Scanner, Ulrich!

Virtualization!"

The two boys fell on their behinds upon entering Lyoko, no longer being accustomed to the transfer process, which drew a laugh from the ladies waiting to meet them. Odd looked around. They were in the mountain sector, which seemed empty.

"All clear, Jeremie. We're here!" Aelita called out.

"Alright, I'm bringing up your vehicles. We might've shut down the computer, but they're of course still saved in its memory."

"Sweet! I missed you, my lovable overboard," Odd rejoiced.

Yumi and Ulrich climbed onto the overbike, while Aelita took command of the overwing.

"Take a quick look around. I don't see anything on my radar," said Jeremie.

The Lyoko warriors scouted around, but after a few nostalgia-filled minutes, did not cross paths with anything. There was no sign of XANA or his monsters, Franz Hopper, or anything else that could possibly have remained. The sector was quite empty, and it was quite peaceful. This eerie sight weirded out the four heroes, since it just didn't seem normal.

"Alright, I'm bringing you all in. The girls first."

"I think I solved our mystery," Jeremie said. "Aelita, would you do the honor?"

Aelita looked at the screen and gasped. The rest crowded around.

"A spectre?" asked Ulrich.

"Mmhmm. That's exactly what it is."

"What's the matter, are you *scaaared*?" asked Yumi.

"No! I-"

"At least you won't have to climb any rock walls," joked Odd.

"Hey Odd, maybe if you ask the ghost on a date it'll actually work out," Ulrich shot back. They all laughed, except for Odd, of course.

"Haha, very funny good buddy."

"This ghost - is it a polymorphic spectre that we'll have to fight?" asked Yumi.

"No," said Aelita. "It's just a normal spectre. It's like what Jeremie used to give Odd superpowers once."

"Oh yeah! I loved kicking Yolanda's butt," said Odd.

"Yeah, until she started kicking yours." Ulrich chuckled.

"I...uh...let her do that."

"Anyway, Jeremie can enter code to disable the spectre. But the question is, why a spectre?" asked Aelita.

"I can answer that," replied Jeremie. "It's a self-defense mechanism. XANA programmed it in years ago. He might be gone, but his backup program still lives. Even if the computer is off, the spectre program is still running, and if it detects _any_ danger whatsoever to the factory, it releases a spectre to take care of it. But since XANA is gone, the spectre hardly had any power besides frightening away the construction workers. Hence, your abandoned equipment. Just a little typing, and, voila! No more spectre."

"Well that was anticlimactic," Ulrich said.

Jeremie turned off the supercomputer. As they started up the elevator out of their second home, Aelita began to become emotional once more.

"Jeremie, I'm worried. I want to save the supercomputer. It's the last trace of my father."

"And we have such good memories involving it," Odd said.

Saving the supercomputer was something that no one had thought about when they first shut it off. Back then, the priority was stopping XANA. But now that impending doom for the computer was involved, it was beginning to toy with everyone's feelings.

"But how could we stop the construction? Buy the land? We don't have that sort of money," Jeremie said regretfully.

"I know someone who might help us," said Ulrich, with a smile.

Ulrich dialed the number. Yumi knew exactly who he was calling.

A couple of rings, and then -

"Hey, dad?"

"Ulrich?"

Mr. Stern was quite surprised to hear his son's voice on the other line. They hardly ever talked anymore. He was surprised he even received an invite to his son's wedding given what had happened between them. He knew that he had been hard on Ulrich, but it was for his own good.

"How can I help you, son?"

"I want to in-invest, er-buy some assets. In Real Estate. And I already have a property in mind. Can you help me?"

Ulrich's father seemed elated.

"Atta boy, Ulrich! I knew it was only a matter of time before you realized you need to start planning for your future."

Ulrich bit his tongue so he wouldn't lash out at his father.

"Yeah, um, could you help me buy the abandoned factory near Kadic? It was just sold to someone else, but I have a feeling he'll easily sell it," said Ulrich, thinking about the spectre.

"That seems like an odd request. What are you going to do with that property?"

"I - um, well. We-um, I'm going to turn it into a, uh, restaurant! Yeah, a restaurant! Odd's the chef - Odd, my best friend and crazy roommate from Kadic, yeah with the funky hair - and it'll be called, "Ulrich and Yumi's Japanese Kitchen! Yeah, that's it!" Ulrich said, proud he thought of a lie this good on the spot.


	12. Chapter 12

"So the dreams were caused by XANA's spectre?" Yumi asked.

"Yes, it was a part of XANA's trap," said Jeremie. "Think about it. The spectre was programmed in years ago, when we were fighting XANA. The idea behind the dreams was to draw us to the factory, so we would see what was going on and hopefully stop it. Remember-"

"-We and XANA had a common interest: the factory," Aelita finished.

"Exactly, Aelita. He wouldn't be able to take over the world if the computer got bulldozed."

"And if it had been at a certain time, I would've been-"

"Toast," Odd finished. He drew a worried look from Aelita. "But you weren't, silly! Everyone's okay. Speaking of a toast, I think we all deserve to pour out some drinks to celebrate today's victory."

Just then, Ulrich came running into the room.

"Hey, guess what? The deal's done. We own the factory!"

"That's great!" Everyone cheered.

"My dad said the seller couldn't believe someone was interested in the property, and seemed oddly interested in getting rid of it."

"I wonder why?" Odd interjected.

"He sold it for a fraction of what it's worth. Not to mention my dad now thinks I'm a broker in the making."

With two wonderful victories on the day, our heroes celebrated with a wonderful night of storytelling and playful banter.

"Oh my, is it 21:00 already?" asked Odd.

"Yeah, it's not so late though. What's the matter, got a date?" Ulrich winked.

"Actually, yeah. I told Milly I'd meet her at the movies at 9:30. Guess I best be running off!"

"Wow, Milly? Like Milly Solovieff?" asked Yumi.

"The one and the same," replied Odd. "And this time, I think it might actually work out."

"Go get 'er, good buddy."

"Thanks, old pal. I'll just give her some of the ol' Odd Della Robbia charm, and she'll fall for me instantly. Thanks all!" He left in a haste.

"Now that you mention it, I think we'd best be going too," said Ulrich.

"Thank you for the good time and the drinks, Jeremie and Aelita. We'll let you know if we have any more strange dreams."

Yumi and Ulrich left and began walking back home.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me, Aelita," Jeremie said in a romantic manner. Aelita couldn't help but blush.

"By the way, Jeremie, what was it that you dreamed about? "  
"Oh, nothing." Aelita saw right through that lie.

"C'mon love, you know you can tell me about it," she said, thinking it was a nightmare. "I know it was XANA related, but I also saw the program - and I know that XANA's dream inducer only affected the four of us and not you, which I didn't let slip to the others."

Jeremie faintly smiled. "I knew you'd notice that little fact."

"Go ahead, Jeremie. I'm waiting…"

"Okay. But first, follow me outside."

Jeremie led her to a local park near their home, where he laid on his back on the grass, staring up at the night sky. Aelita followed suit.

"I dreamed about your father," he said. Aelita was both shocked, and curious to hear more.

He continued. "I saw him. He told me he's been watching over everything - watching over us - and h-he-"

"Go on," said Aelita, beginning to tear up, as she held onto him.

"H-he called me his son. And he was proud of me. Of **us**. And he said he's always watching…"

She hugged him tighter.

"Jeremie, that's...wonderful. I can't believe you saw him. I knew he'd be proud of you. You're the bravest man I've ever known, how could he not be?"

Jeremie said nothing. He merely took in the moment, while also expecting the next question he heard.

"Do you think he's still out there?" Aelita asked, looking up at the stars. It was a few seconds before she got a reply.

"I used to think that answer was no. But now…" he paused. "Now, I'll keep looking. He's out there somewhere, and one day, we're going to meet face-to-face in the real world."

As they held hands, Mr. and Mrs. Belpois admired the beauty of the night sky, the serenity of their surroundings, and the promise of the future. And they also knew that that night, there would be no strange dreams - only a pleasant night's sleep as each lay beside one another, their love strong as ever.

Thanks for reading! Please review.


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